Oh, really? Well, since it is "objectively" so, what can I say? I'm defeated, right?
Defeated? This isn't a contest.
I put that in there, to try and make you understand that I'm not being nostalgic or "emotional" about it. I played the game no more than a month ago, and it was still as challenging as ever - even if the AI has flaws (like they all do).
So I guess I must erase my memories of extremely bad pathfinding (enemies getting stuck on plants and boulders) or of easily circle-strafing enemies to death (as shown in the video I linked to) or those of extremely cheap hit & run tactics that were all made possible due to the pathetic AI. (And as an aside… all of that in a game that had several patches and an expansion and was not in pre-release demo state).
Yup. Must've imagined it all. OK. Erased. It's all complete bullshit. Thanks for showing me the way to the light, chap :lol: .
The part that's complete bullshit, is that the AI was as bad in Gothic 2 as it is in the Arcania demo.
If you think I'm saying that Gothic 2 is flawless, I'm certainly not. That said, it's one of the most challenging games I can think of - in terms of player-controlled combat. Oblivion, for instance, was MUCH worse.
It's true that you can cheat enemies and you could exploit the AI in certain ways, but it took a while to figure that out - and the game never was a pushover.
When you can defeat everything in Arcania without the least amount of challenge, and without having played the game more than 20 minutes - the problem should be evident to anyone with their eyes open. This is for the demo, though, and I'm reserving judgement regarding the full game. I'm not being too hopeful, because AI is not a last-minute thought in these games, or it shouldn't be.
If you want to claim that you were able to defeat all the enemies you encountered in Gothic 2 by exploiting the AI - 20 minutes into the game - then you're lying or being delusional.
We all know that most CRPGs out there, can be considered a joke or a pushover - AFTER you figure out the expoits and the weaknesses in the AI. VERY few games retain their challenges throughout the game.
That is what you seem to be missing.
If the above doesn't ring a bell, I must simply conclude that we come from different planets - and that's fine.
If you want to think of me as a fanboy, I find that amusing. I like Gothic 2 - but I never got to the end of it. I'm a big fan of the original Gothic, but I'm not exactly the kind of person blind to obvious flaws.
I don't play my games expecting a true human-level challenge when I fight enemies, and I understand that no game can really "outsmart" you forever. It will always be about figuring out certain weaknesses and exploiting them - and you often have to avoid exploits, even in the best games. That's just a fact of life - and your presentation of Gothic 2 AI as complete shit - tells me you're really not competent in terms of the history of the gaming industry and especially not in terms of singleplayer CRPGs with player-controlled combat. Challenging combat AIs in freeform environments where player-skill is the key aspect, are exceedingly rare.
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